Slow Heat

by Leta Blake

  Dizzily, he let Rosen guide him up two flights to the bathroom in the hallway outside his bedroom, and then Rosen steered him under the warmth of the already-running shower. He moaned and leaned against the tiles, shaking in exhaustion, letting Rosen soap him up and wash away the grime.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” Rosen whispered. “You’re in pain.”

  “I’d forgotten,” Vale admitted. “I’ve had Urho for too long now. It was dulled in my memory. I thought I just needed to be brave, but, wolf-god, Rosen, it’s beyond endurance.”

  “I know.”

  He let Rosen wash his hair. “My omega friends who’ve given birth. They say it’s the same. The mind forgets the agony.”

  Rosen smiled gently, taking time with the rinsing. “I take back what I said that day in my studio. I’m not sure any child is worth all this suffering.”

  Vale enjoyed the pampering, but then the prickling sensation started under his skin and spread deep into his muscles. It was coming back again all too soon. “Rosen, it’s time. Help me.”

  Quickly Rosen grabbed a towel, and then dried him off before leading him, protesting feebly, toward his bedroom. “You have to get me into the basement,” he whimpered.

  “No, you deserve a bed, Vale.”

  Rosen maneuvered him onto the soft, cool blanket covering the mattress.

  “I don’t want Urho,” Vale muttered and Rosen ran a hand through his hair.

  “I know, darling. You won’t have him. But you’ll have someone, all right?”

  Vale didn’t know what Rosen was talking about anymore. The bed under his back was soothing but nothing could obscure the burn rising forcefully inside. He whimpered and threw his head back. “I need Jason,” he said, voice clogged with tears.

  “Jason’s right here,” Rosen said gently.

  And then, somehow he was.

  Blinking wetly, Vale reached for the tall, naked boy exiting his bathroom. He gasped at the sight of Jason’s hard cock pointed right at him, and his tear-swollen, bruised face.

  As the heat gripped Vale hard, he moaned, “Darling, you came.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  After Jason had called Xan, he’d told Urho where he was going.

  Father was too distraught over Pater to notice Jason’s absence, and Urho could explain it all to him later when the danger had passed. If the danger passed. That was yet to be determined.

  After that, he’d taken a handful of alpha quell and stuffed more in his pockets. He’d need to be in control.

  Racing to Vale’s house, the people on the sidewalks made way when they saw him coming. Images of all he’d seen that day played through his mind. He never wanted children. No matter what. Not after that. It wasn’t worth that at any price. He’d never take a surrogate, and he didn’t care what Vale had done in the past. So long as Vale was safe now. Safe and not hurting. Which was Jason’s job. To make sure Vale didn’t have to hurt anymore.

  He was out of breath and sweating when he arrived at Vale’s. He hoped Xan had made it to his house half as fast. His pater needed blood and Jason’s photographic memory hadn’t let him down when it mattered most. As he’d been desperately casting about for a solution, he’d remembered sitting next to Xan in biology class two years prior, both of them pricking their fingers, and scribbling down the test results. Wolf 3—that was what Xan had written. And Wolf 3 was what Pater needed now.

  Xan had been sleeping off his liquor but he’d agreed to come over immediately when Jason told him the situation. Hopefully he’d gotten there in time. Part of him wanted to call his house and make sure, but a bigger part knew he couldn’t control what was happening there. His duty was here with Vale. His pater was in good hands with Urho. Jason trusted him to do what needed to be done, even if it meant standing in the street and waving down drivers until he found one with Wolf 3 blood to volunteer.

  Bounding onto Vale’s porch, Jason reached for the bell, but Rosen pulled open the door before he had a chance to ring. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his hairy chest and his hair fell loose from the dark bun. His eyes were tired and weariness radiated from him in waves.

  “Good. You’re here.” He tugged Jason inside, squeezing his hand reassuringly as he did. “You must be freezing.”

  Looking down at himself, Jason realized he’d again left the house without a coat. Since he was wearing only soft pants and a blood-stained t-shirt, he supposed he must be cold, but he didn’t feel anything at all. There was so much distance between himself and the rest of the world—partially alpha quell but mostly shock—he could row a boat in it for hours and never reach shore.

  Rosen rubbed Jason’s bare arms, trying to warm them, and clucked his tongue. “You’re quite the sight.”

  Yosef and Zephyr also lingered in the foyer. They’d all obviously been waiting for him. Zephyr wound between his legs in greeting and Yosef gave him a soft smile, his white eyebrows drawn low in concern. He reached out to shake Jason’s hand and his grip seemed to lend strength. “Is everything going to be all right at home?”

  Jason shook his head. He didn’t know what to say or if he even could talk about what was happening at home. His faculties failed him.

  “Come to the kitchen. Have tea and calm down,” Yosef said, putting an arm around Jason’s shoulders and hug-walking him into the hall.

  “But Vale—”

  “He’s sleeping,” Yosef said. “Finally.”

  “Thank, wolf-god,” Rosen added. “There will be enough time for you to warm up in the kitchen.”

  Settling Jason at the table, Rosen plied him with raisin bread he could barely taste and a cup of tea. He sipped it quietly and made crumbles of the rest. Meanwhile Yosef sat across from him and drank from a tall glass of water that made Jason think of the one he’d shattered in the hallway at home. He’d never cleaned it up.

  Rosen took the open chair next to Jason and glanced at Yosef significantly.

  “First let’s address the bigger crisis,” Yosef said, leaning against the table, lines creasing his forehead. “Tell us about your pater.”

  Jason did his best to explain the disaster at his house, the miscarriage, the blood, and the probable sepsis, without crying.

  “I’m Wolf 3,” Yosef said, as Jason drew to a close. He rose from the table. “I’ll go now. If Xan hasn’t arrived by the time I get there, maybe I can still help.”

  Jason was too grateful for words and his eyes filled again. Rosen pushed the hot tea into his hands, urging him to drink it.

  After Yosef left, Zephyr leapt into Jason’s lap. She nuzzled him and then settled in against him, her weight a comfort against his side. As he stroked her, the floodgates opened and the real tears came. Hot and silent, they slid down his face. He tasted their salt with each sip of tea.

  Rosen squeezed his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” Jason said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “It’s been a rough few days.”

  “Don’t apologize.” Rosen handed him a handkerchief from his pocket.

  “How is Vale?” Jason asked, getting himself together.

  Rosen shuddered. “It’s been desperate. I thought I’d lose my mind listening to him. I was on the verge of calling you when…” He trailed off. “Jason, be honest—are you up for this?”

  Jason looked down at his blood-spattered clothes and shaking hands. “I don’t know for sure. I’ve never handled a heat before.” Gathering courage, he met Rosen’s eye. “I guess I better be.”

  Quickly, Rosen outlined the plan and then led him up to Vale’s bedroom bath, pointing out the towels, soap, and shampoo. He then grabbed fistfuls of alpha condoms from the giant box under the sink and took them out to Vale’s bedside table.

  Jason tried not to think of why Vale had an entire box of alpha condoms. Though of course he knew. Vale must have needed them plenty of times over the years, and it was good that he’d used them diligently. They’d kept him alive and safe for Jason to find him.

  “I’ll make sure there’s plen
ty of food prepared in the kitchen. In between heat waves, you’ll want to make him eat if you can. And you’ll need to keep your own strength up.”

  “All right.” Jason was exhausted. He had no idea how he was going to power through this. Only that he could. For Vale he would.

  “You know how it works?”

  A weird crack formed in his fear, allowing a bubble of his native humor through. Jason laughed. “I’m aware.”

  “Good.” Rosen smiled at him and gave him a reassuring shake. “You can do this. You’re his alpha.”

  Jason swallowed hard and nodded.

  “Now, get cleaned up and I’ll see about rousing him. He’ll need a shower. I’ll handle that in the other bathroom. You just get prepared. This will take a toll on you, too.”

  Jason nodded and headed into the bathroom to soak the trauma from his hands and skin. The warm water of the bath did a good job, but, even as he heard Vale and Rosen ascending the stairs, the racing fear for his pater didn’t completely leave his bloodstream.

  It was Vale’s scent that broke him out of his panicked numbness. The sweet, muskiness of Vale’s slick drifted in to him from the other bathroom. His cock rose with a breathtaking rush. Vale’s voice rumbled and Jason detected a raspy, spent quality to it, even through the bathroom wall. The coolness of the alpha quell battled with the rising heat of his lust. He took deep breaths. He could handle a heat. For Vale.

  He dried off and set the rest of his alpha quell out on the bathroom counter for later. It would help keep him sane enough to remember to use the condoms, to not impregnate Vale, and to make good choices about how to spend the time between waves.

  “I need Jason,” Vale’s voice rose pitifully from the bedroom.

  “Jason’s right here,” Rosen answered.

  As Jason stepped out from the bathroom, all he could see was Vale spread across the bed. He dragged his eyes from Vale’s hard cock to his flushed nipples and then up to his red mouth and bright eyes. His skin was rosy from the shower and his hair glistened damply on the pillow. His eyes pierced Jason with a desperation that cut to the quick.

  Rosen left, closing the door behind him.

  “Darling, you came.”

  Jason approached the bed slowly, his heavy cock swaying in front of him. “You should have told me.”

  Vale shivered. “I didn’t want you to know.” He reached for Jason as his cock convulsed and leaked delicious pre-come. Jason’s mouth watered and he moved closer, ready to lick it up. “But I can’t recall why now.”

  Jason did. He remembered clearly how Vale’s shame had driven him to try to burn the bond between them. But he didn’t care anymore. Whatever Vale had done, whatever he’d said about his past—nothing was as important as keeping Vale safe. He couldn’t do anything for his pater, but he could protect Vale forever.

  “I’m here for you,” Jason said. “You won’t turn me away ever again.”

  Vale reached for him with his entire body, arching and calling to him, so wet, and open, and needy. Jason groaned, cock aching, balls twitching. The scent of slick was overwhelming and Jason wanted to bury his face there, licking and tasting that delicious fluid, but he also wanted to grab Vale’s slim hips and drive into him the way he had on the sofa two nights before.

  Torn between his impulses, it was Vale who decided for him.

  “Oh, it hurts!” Vale gasped and arched up hard, crying out in pain, before flipping onto his stomach and lifting his ass high in the air.

  Reaching for a condom, Jason rolled it on with shaking hands. It felt strange, a dull second skin, but through the material he felt the pressure of his fingers and the heat of his palm. He wiped nervous sweat from his eyes and crawled into position.

  Vale pulled his ass cheeks apart, begging with his whole body, crooning for Jason to fill his hole. “Need it. Please, please, please. Need you, darling. It hurts!”

  Nothing about this was how he’d imagined his first heat with Vale. He’d thought they’d take a trip to the shore, and they’d look forward to it for weeks with anticipation. He’d imagined nothing but pleasure for days.

  But life kept proving to him, over and over, that it didn’t give a damn what was supposed to happen. ‘Supposed to’ was for fairytales. No, Vale was here before him, on his knees, begging, after hours of pain. That was reality. Maybe it wasn’t romantic, or dreamy, or sweet. But it was real. It was his. Vale was his.

  To claim, and take, and soothe. To mark and fill. To forgive and love.

  Screw contracts, screw the chomping teeth of death, and most of all screw the fantasies he’d spun before he knew any better. This was his life and his omega.

  His Vale.

  He aimed his cock and covered Vale’s back, plunging deep and hard with his first thrust.

  Vale clawed at the bedding, pushing back to take more of Jason in. He moaned softly as his swollen omega glands released copious amounts of slick as Jason’s huge cock pressed hard against them. The alpha dildo hadn’t been enough—it never was. Vale reached back to grip Jason’s hair and twisted to tug his mouth to his own. Jason’s thickness expanded even more, milking his glands relentlessly with each thrust, and promising the knot to come. Vale quivered, anxious for it, greedy for the primal fullness that always left him awed and sated.

  Jason broke their kiss, gripping Vale’s hips and holding him steady and still with his cock buried deep. “Grip around me,” he rasped. “Squeeze me tight.”

  Vale’s mouth ached for want of Jason’s lips and he tried to tug Jason down again, but a swift smack to his ass brought him to a gasping clarity.

  “Grip me,” Jason ordered again. Vale’s stomach flipped over as he hastened to obey. “Tighter. Feel me inside you.”

  Vale squeezed all over, closing his eyes and moaning as his body vibrated around Jason’s thickness. It felt more solid than anything in the world, and it felt so good against his tender, aching glands. Vale squeezed his fists, tightening as much as he could while the slick poured out, wetting their thighs and the bed, scenting the air with the musky smell of his need.

  “That’s right,” Jason crooned, rubbing his hands up and down Vale’s back soothingly. “Work your ass on my dick. Empty those glands on me. Such a good omega.”

  As Vale released and gripped again, his cock convulsed, drizzling pre-come to the sheets, and his eyes rolled up in his head. He wanted Jason to declare him good again—right now and every day, until the day he died.

  “Mm, you smell so right,” Jason moaned, leaning down to kiss Vale’s shoulders and suck on his earlobe. “Want to roll in your slick.”

  Vale wanted to rub it all over Jason, too, make sure that every omega knew Jason was his man. He gasped when Jason placed his hand around his throat—gentle, but masterful—and murmured, “Grab hold of the sheets. I’m going to fuck you now.”

  Vale shouted as Jason thrust hard and fast, the bed banged against the wall, and the world dissolved. Their skin slapped in rhythm and Vale arched back, taking the thrusts hungrily, crying out for more, even as his cock exploded and shot wad after wad onto the bed. He shook in place, but didn’t struggle against Jason’s strong hand on his throat. He screamed as a second spike of pleasure pulled through him, and he convulsed and came again, his asshole gripping and releasing around Jason’s pumping cock.

  “Give me your knot,” Vale begged.

  Jason leaned forward, laughing in Vale’s ear. “I took alpha quell. You’re going to have to wait a while.”

  Vale gasped and Jason squeezed around his throat lightly.

  “Take it. Open up,” Jason murmured, rubbing his thumb up and down the side of Vale’s throat. With each thrust, the head of his huge cock pressed against the mouth of Vale’s descended womb, igniting the sensitive nerves there.

  Vale cried out, clenching around Jason so that his glands gushed again. “Please, darling, knot me.”

  “I will,” Jason whispered, kissing his earlobe before sliding his hands down to grip Vale’s hips. “When I’m ready.
” He rested his forehead against Vale’s shoulder blades, and thrust passionately.

  Vale wailed and scratched at the sheets, coming again, his ass convulsing and his cock spurting. He whimpered while Jason kissed him, pushing back for more. He shivered and quaked, his heart somersaulting with each hard thrust, until he cried, “Please!”

  But Jason didn’t give him what he wanted.

  Instead, he pulled out.

  “No,” Vale moaned, asshole gaping and ravenous.

  Jason flipped him over onto his back with more strength than Vale knew he had. Collapsing beside Vale, he kissed his mouth and made soothing sounds, before reaching low and pressing three fingers inside.

  “Fuck me!” Vale cried, humping up, riding Jason’s fingers desperately. He’d suffered for hours and he wanted his reward now.

  “I know,” Jason murmured. “Just be patient.”

  Vale’s skin prickled and his body ached. He needed Jason’s cock. “Get back in me,” he ordered, gripping Jason’s chin. “Fuck me.”

  Jason tore his face free of Vale’s grip, pulled his fingers out, and rolled up on top of Vale to restrain him. Vale pressed his hard cock—always so hard during heat—up against Jason’s abdomen, and begged with his body, tweaking his own nipples, running his hands up and down his chest.

  Jason groaned, bending down to lick the trails of pre-come from Vale’s cock, and then he shoved Vale’s legs up, burying his face between his ass cheeks.

  Vale held his legs back, whimpering, as Jason rubbed slick all over his face and shoulders, mouthed his hole, and tongue fucked him. It was delicious but not enough. Never enough. He needed so much more.

  Jason worked four fingers in easily and Vale squirmed, trying to make them hit all the right places inside, the places that Jason’s cock easily rubbed against, making him come again.

  “Where’s the… oh,” Jason whispered, as Vale cried out and arched. “There’s the scar tissue. Does it always hurt?”

  Vale clawed at Jason’s hand between his thighs. Unable to talk, he spread his legs wider and rode Jason’s fingers mindlessly, letting them glance against the scar tissue again and again. The pain was good, stretching and deep. Jason worked against the tissue with the pads of his fingers, and then he pulled back, lifted his hand to his face to scent it, and then smeared Vale’s juices across his chest, leaving glistening streaks behind.